A New Blog, A Way to Keep The Flow of Writing Going

I decided I need to focus on writing my book. To get started with that I decided I needed to get back into the habit of writing, and writing often. So I started reading one of my favorite author's book. Natalie Goldberg.

You can read more about it at the following posts. They are on this same blogger profile but under a different blog title.

Laurie's Writing Practice Edited Raw Files 
By raw files, I mean these are the words that came out when I wrote for a certain number of minutes without stopping. By editing, I mean, the only thing I changed was the punctuation and spelling.

Here are the posts I have done in the past couple of days.

I Remember, (a post about my Stolen Blue Jeans Ice Cream Truck)

I don't remember Being Happy When I was a Kid! 

I am thinking I like being excited about something

I know that I can only deal with how I feel at the current moment.

I don't know what is going to happen in the next day, week or month.

So, you can visit those links to see what is on my mind at the current time. I am trying to keep my mind distracted from "what is" right now and focus on more positive and constructive thoughts.

All my best to you all,
Laurie

Today I am starting my Adventures of the Ice Cream Lady Book.

I just finished writing a short piece of software to do what Natalie Goldberg, describes in her book, "Wild Mind, Living the Writer's Life" as writing practice.

She talks about writing for 10 minutes, taking a short break and going 10 more, and she gives about 10 different sentence starters to get you going. These starters are very broad and can pertain to anything you are dealing with or wanting to write about.

I have this piece of software that actually creates simple .exe programs, that output your results into an html or copies it to your clipboard as text. I have used it many times in the past to create what I call "self improvement software."

I have actually sold that software in the past, but it is not anything fancy, nothing compared to Microsoft Word, or stuff like that.

But if you are reading this post and would like a copy to check it out, or just to see what I am referring too, just comment on any post on my blog and let me know you want my "writing practice software" and I will send you the download link.

In the meantime stay tuned, I figure I might as well use the publicity from my stolen ice cream truck to start to launch my book. I had created an outline, I actually jotted down most of the chapter titles during stops while I was driving my ice cream truck.

It was going to be titled "101 Lessons Learned by an Ice Cream Lady." That title may change, but I already have about 89 chapter titles.

So that is where I am going to begin.

I plan on creating another more positive youtube video, but my heart isn't in it, I haven't quite got to that place yet.


I am trying to stay positive,

Love,
Laurie

Why it wasn't covered on insurance, a lesson learned the hard way.

I had a friend at one of my favorite forums ask me how long I had to wait on the insurance. I replied and this is what I ended up writing. So I cut it and decided to post it here, because it is more appropriate here than there. (I can direct her here to answer her question in length.)

I thought that since it was parked in my driveway it would be covered on my renters property insurance. I thought wrong.

I have had it in my yard covered with a tarp in winters past with no problem.  This year it wasn't covered.

When I strapped it up tight last year the seat mildewed, and I replace it this summer. I had gotten scotch gaurd but hadn't treated it  yet, and it had been there so long, no one ever bothered it. I didn't ever imagine someone would steal it from me.

Someone has explained to me since it was stolen, about something called comprehensive, non running or something, but since it is so old (its a 1992) I don't even know if it could have been covered that way.

When I drive it to sell ice cream, I had full coverage but that runs over $200 a month and I can't afford it all year on the non driving month's fixed budget.

The first year I had it I lived in a larger home and it was in the garage. The insurance agent did tell me if the house were to burn down or something it would have been covered, I don't know now if that would have been correct or not.

The second year, I rented out one of those commercial garage spaces, they call them MaxiSpace here, they have electricity, so it was my "ice cream shop." I kept my freezers over there as well.  It ran me almost $300 a month.

I couldn't afford that all year round, especially with the seasonal insurance as well.

It is an up and down business. You never know what the weather is going to be like, on a given day, or even a given season. Last spring, we didn't have much of a spring here at all. You never know which neighborhoods are going to be good or not, and how much competition you run into.

The last few years have been tough, not only because people are holding on to their money a little tighter, but lots of unemployed people, think "oh this would be easy and slap stickers on there vans."

Us seasoned ice cream people call them "the sunny day fly by nighters," lol. Most of them do it for one season and realize it is way more work then they realized. It doesn't matter though, in most neighborhoods, even if I had lots of regulars, who loved me, ice cream is a first come, first to get a sale business. Although I have had some regulars who have bought from me, even when some other truck has just come by, just because they really like me, that is customer loyalty. :)

Some people probably wonder why I do it at all.

Tommorrow I am going to do another video explaining that in detail. But to make a long story short. I have fibromyalgia and I suffer from severe depression among other problems, too. I take lots of medicine it is hard for me to get going in the morning.

It is an afternoon job. I set my own hours. It helps me keep money in my pocket all the time. It gives me so much joy when I am behind the wheel. I had a stereo on the inside with two little speakers, and listened to my "own" music, while I played the ice cream music outside.

I always played really upbeat, inspirational motivational music. I could be depressed and have to "force myself" to get going and it would only take me maybe 3 or 4 blocks and 2 or 3 customers, and I was happy and flying high. A natural happy high. 

It was medicine for my soul.

I adore the young children, they are so sweet, they always make me smile and I love being outdoors.

The guy who stole my truck, stole much more than the monetary value of my truck. He stole my joy, appreciation and love of what I did, and the tool and power that I had to do that on a daily basis.

In the news, I know this story isn't bad, compared to all the other horrible things we hear each day. To a lot of people, the 6,000 I paid for it may not be a huge amount of money.

But I can count on less than the fingers of 1 hand the times in my life I have ever spent that much on 1 thing, all three times it was a vehicle, and the time I bought my ice cream truck was the only time I paid it all at once.

(It was when I got the back pay after fighting 13 years to get my disability payments, then waiting almost two to actually see the money, once I knew I won).

The other two times, I spent just a little more than that, were two times in my life when I got a brand new car. A honda back in the 79 which I paid 6200 for and
I don't remember how much I paid for a Chevy Sprint I had in the 86.

I know you got a way longer answer than you bargained for, but since I am planning on doing this video tommorrow, explaining all this out is sorta therapy for my soul on the whole issue. Now all I need is a teleprompter. LOL>

I have to do another one, because the David Rose from Q13 is doing a segment on Washington's Most Wanted on saturday night, and I want him to use something other than the "raw emotion and too close to my face" video that is on YouTube right now.

I also want people to realize, "the joy" that I got every minute I was behind the wheel in that truck. I want them to hear me explain that, what I just explained above in my own words.

Digging Out My Happy Ice Cream Driver Feelings through Journaling!

 A kind sweet person from one of my email gratitude lists, sent me these questions to help me get back to better feelings. As I said it is my nature to be optimistic and this mailing list helps me stay in that mood and attitude. I felt sooooo much better after generating these answers today, so I wanted to share them with you all.

You know what? Some of the same questions were asked by the interviewers from both Q13 and The News Tribune, but I was so far the other way I couldn't even get to these memories a few days back. I am slowly working my way back to the real me. :o)

Edit-- 01-10-2012--

I been playing around with a site called tagxedo.com and came up with this using this posts url.

What do you like best about your ice cream truck?
What I like best about my truck is the feeling I have when I drive it.

• I feel free.
• I feel wonderful.
• I love every minute driving down the road.
• I love the way the kids look for me as I come driving down the street.
• I love seeing their sweet smiling faces.
• I love the power and control it gives me to always have some cash in my pocket.
• I love the way I get to do decide how much ice cream and what flavors the to buy the next day.
• I love having the resources to give a child who is short on change an ice cream and light up their world.
• I love the feeling of sunshine on my head and shoulders.
• I love to listen to my stereo, and sing along to my favorite uplifting music as I drive between neighborhoods.
• I love the waves, smiles and attention I get from everyone that sees me in my cute little truck when I stop at red lights.
• I love the comments others say when they hear what I do, they reply, "That must me a really fun job!" it really is, most all of the time.

Where do you go with it that you enjoy most?

• Since the best sales are in the poorest neighborhoods, they are my favorite areas. I have several culdesacs where I have regular kids, I know by first name and they always smile and say__

•  Hi, "blue jeans ice cream lady?" where have you been, we miss you!" you are are favorite ice cream truck?
• I like the little kids who are patient and quiet and wait until everyone is done and say, I don't have any money, when it is only one or two, and all others have walked away I give them one of my cheapest ice creams, and love to see their smiles of appreciation.
  
• It is a feeling that cannot be imagined unless you have experienced it.
• I get asked all the time  for free ice cream from kids, but I really love to give it free to the ones that don't expect it.

 What kind of encounters/relationships does doing business in it bring you?

• I have met so many kind wonderful people. I have lots of regulars who stand and chat with me. We talk about our kids and all sorts of other things.
• I have got to watch little babies grow into toddlers and little kids to preteens.
  
• I have one neighborhood where one of my little kids that bought from me is now over 6 feet tall, way taller than me (I think he is now a junior or senior in high school) and he smiles and lights up every time he sees me.
• I enjoy shooting the breeze with my supplier every morning, sharing my sweet stories and watching his kids grow up as well.
• I even enjoy chatting with the other vendors while waiting sometimes in line on busy days at my supplier.
• I enjoy the jokes my supplier makes about me driving around in a pair of dungarees.
• Writing all of these memories brings joy and a smile to myself, I don't want to think about all of this being gone now.
• I park at several schools for about 10-15 minutes waiting for the bell to ring,
• I have received so many thank yous of appreciation from my kids who are really grateful I am there almost every day.
• I have actually given some of them a day or two credit, and they always remember they owe me and pay me the next day. It lets me see the best in these bright young minds.
• I love the compliments I receive on how unique and creative my truck is.
• I use to joke with older kids and adults who laughed at themselves for getting excited to see me that "I sell ice cream to kids of all ages."

If you could make absolutely any refurbishments and modifications to the truck, what would you do, and how would this affect your operations?

• I had made a lot of refurbishments. 
• I painted it to look like blue jeans.
• I have the little family sticker of my kids and I on the window.
• My sticker magnets looked like blue jean pockets.
• I had scanned the dollar items in a faded pocket frame different from the other frame so the young kids could tell the difference easily.
• The seat was longer and I had an extra seat belt so I could bring along one of my children occasionally.
• Of course I had covered my bench seat cover with denim fabric.
  
• This extra seat came in very hand because a few winters, my ice cream truck was the only vehicle I had for transportation.
• I used it then to run my errands instead of getting groceries on the bus I could get them in my ice cream truck.

If I couldn't get it back and money wasn't an issue, (I mean in a dream world) this is how I would want to replace it.

I would buy one of those new SMART cars and get the people that paint the ads on the side of buses to customize it with pictures of various blue jean patchwork.
(update on Jan 9, 2012, what this dream car actually looks like)

• I would have my website, facebook page and twitter printed on it.
• I would also own a smartphone :o)I would have a customized freezer and another compartment for cold water, soda, snacks and candy. 
• Even if that meant pulling a tiny little trailer with it.
• I would have it set up so I could switch from the music box on the outside to my car stereo on the inside. 
• I would have a microphone speaker worked into it so I could interrupt the music with a "Hi its Laurie the blue jeans lady" or any other comment I wanted to make anytime I felt like it as I was trucking through the hood.
• I would order a customized ice cream music box with some of my favorite songs digitized to be ice cream music. 
• There is a company online that does this. One of those songs would be "Raindrops keep falling on my head" I would play that on rainy days, and it would be unique to my truck and everyone would chuckle and comment about it when I came down the road.
• I would also digitize some of the kids favorites like, "I want candy" "Me Love"
• Actually before I ordered the specialized music box I would survey my ice cream kids and ask them what songs they would like to hear the most. 
• I would mix it with some from every generation over the last 50-60 years so there would be songs for my kids of all ages.
  

What are your best moments of working with it?

I would have to search through my gratitude journals to find the best stories, but I think I covered a lot of these in the questions above.

I am so appreciative for these questions. I was trying to get to this feeling where I am today, right now, last night and I didn't quite reach it. 

His questions have helped me jump right up to those feeling where I want to feel. I am going to print this out and carry it in my hip pocket to read during these days of discouragement and frustration that I am currently dealing with. I know rereading it will help me keep my spirits up.

I am feeling so much better and well this afternoon,

Laurie

Today's Appreciation List despite my missing Ice Cream Truck

The theft on Christmas day of my beloved Blue Jeans Ice Cream Truck means a lot more to me than money.

 My oldest daughter often jokes that I loved my ICT* more than I loved my kids. It isn't true but I did treat her like one of my kids, I even had a name for her. I called her Amy. (That is what I would have named another daughter if I had one.)

Anyhow, my ICT brought me so much more than money.

She taught me so many lessons in life.

That is why I started writing an outline to write a book, I planned on titling something like 101 Life Lessons Learned by An Ice Cream Lady.

Well that's about how far my goal for writing the book had come. An outline with about 82 of the 101 lessons mapped out.

But 3 important lessons I have learned in the past 4 years are encouragement, appreciation and joy.

Appreciation is the big one. I will go into the next two in my next few posts.

People make all kinds of judgements and comments about others without knowing the facts. They do it even though most of them have never even lived in the kind of lives of the people they criticize and judge for even a minute of their lives.

It is not easy living on a fixed income. Especially one below the poverty line.

You have to get really good at utilizing resources. It takes time. It takes patience.

For many years I have lived dealing with illness, pain, and worrying about how to make the money last til the next payday. I even  lived this way when I worked full time. Before I became disabled I actually worked 70 hours a week to make ends meet.

But something I have learned is gratitude.

Every day no matter how difficult life becomes I make lists of what I appreciate. It isn't hard to do. Even when you don't have much.

For example,  some jerk stole my ICT on Christmas day.

Well, I realized last night, that the past week has drawn me away from my appreciating and ricocheted me right into the pessimistic type of thinking that I hate to see in anyone much less myself.

I have never been much of a worrier either. So I am going to make a list of things I appreciate despite what has happened.

Today, right now I appreciate---

• that the jerks only took the ice cream truck and not both my vehicles. (I wouldn't have any way to get around now except bus if that had happened. )
• that they didn't try to invade my home or hurt any of us.
• all the loving comments, help, support and publicity that has come my way to help me recover my stolen vehicle.
• my warm home.
• I have met some really neat, kind, and wonderful people because of what has happened.
• all the food we have to eat.
• that it happened the night after Christmas day instead of on Christmas eve. (for some reason to me it makes it just a tiny bit easier to swallow how someone could do this during the holiday season)
• the love I have for and from my wonderful children.
• that I have had four wonderful years of using this truck that have brought me bountiful good wonderful memories.
• that during these years, I have met, served and enjoyed lots of wonderful people while doing my Ice Cream Truck routes.
• that even though it looks bleak now, we are starting a brand new year, and with it comes hope of better days to come.
• it only took me a week to realize I needed to jump out of the pessimistic slump and get back into being appreciative instead. :)
• the internet and the power I have with the tools it provides to all of us. (ie, facebook, blogs, google, etc....)
• my computer, printer and creative skills.
• today I appreciate that although there isn't much left after paying the bills to survive the month, I was able to get the important things paid.
• as Annie, so cheerfully says, "Tomorrow, is only a day away!" (we never know what tomorrow will bring and it can always be filled with wonderful surprises but they are especially more likely to happen if you expect them too.)
• despite whatever happens things always have a way of working out somehow.
• that last night or should I say this morning, or since last year, I had the joy of reading over 26,000 words of optimism, joy, encouragement and memories in my gratitude journals of how my ice cream truck helped me grow in joy, love, and spirit despite the many breakdowns, repairs and obstacles I dealt with over the past 4 years since I got it.

How you can help, in time, knowledge or money

*ICT abbreviation for Ice Cream Truck.